Melt Generation and Fluid Flow in the Thermal Aureole of the Bushveld Complex

Granite sheets emplaced into the migmatite zone of the easterncontact aureole of the Bushveld Complex resulted from fluid-enhanced,incongruent biotite melting of the underlying Silverton Formationshales during prograde metamorphism. Ba concentrations are extremein both the sheets (>1000 ppm) and the hornfels (>800ppm) into which they have been emplaced. We conclude that aBa-rich, hydrothermal fluid induced melting in the aureole,and that fluid transport of Ba²⁺, and to a lesser extent, Sr²⁺and Eu²⁺, persisted in the melt zones under subsolidus conditions.Sr-isotope systematics from high-Ba localities define an errorchronof 2161 ± 106 Ma with an initial (⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr) ratio of0·705 ± 0·001. Metasedimentary rocks unaffectedby fluid infiltration were homogenized at the same time butwith an increased initial ratio, suggesting that whereas isotopehomogenization was achieved between outcrops permeated by fluids,there is no evidence of regional homogenization. Oxygen-isotopecompositions of psammitic metasediments in the aureole are uncorrelatedwith distance from the contact, suggesting the infiltratingfluid equilibrated isotopically with the metasediments. Theirelevated     

Coarse-grained sediment gravity flow facies in a large supraglacial lake

Near Williams Lake, in the central interior of British Columbia, the Fraser River exposes long sections of late Pleistocene glaciolacustrine sediments selectively preserved within a bedrock trough. The dominant facies types are thick, normally graded gravels and sands that occupy steeply dipping multistorey channels up to 300 m wide and several tens of metres deep. Channels appear to have been simultaneously cut and filled by high density turbidity currents in a glacial lake floored by stagnant ice. Fining upward sediment gravity flow sequences up to 50 m thick may be the product of quasi-continuous ‘surging’ turbidity flows triggered by catastrophic meltwater discharges into the trough or retrogressive failure of ice-cored sediments. Large-scale post-depositional deformation structures, such as synclinal folds, normal faults, sedimentary dyke swarms and dewatering structures, record gravitational foundering of sediment and pore-water expulsion caused by the melt of underlying glacier ice. Melting of buried ice masses along the floor of the trough appears to have controlled the flow paths of turbidity currents by producing sub-basins within the overlying sediment pile. An idealized model of ‘supraglacial’ lacustrine sedimentation is developed that may be applicable to other glaciated areas with similar bedrock topography.     

Regional dynamics in the globalising wine industry: the case of Marlborough, New Zealand

The rapid expansion of the New Zealand wine industry has rested largely on a specific wine commodity form, Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc. Global demand for a specialised product has provided the impetus for substantial development at the regional level, an increasingly complex industry structure, and for the intrusion of international capital. This paper explores the contests and relations within the industry through attention to the commodity's value-added chain, wherein recent developments are interpreted as a contest over the brand rents. The contemporary situation therefore may be explained through overlapping organisational and geographic framings of these relations: producer versus buyer-driven dynamics; regional–national and global interests; and inter- and intra-corporate strategies. The commercial contest for control of the region-varietal commodity reveals some paradoxical outcomes in which the region is reaffirmed as a site of investment in an evidently globalised industry, and the significance of who controls what fraction of the value chain is re-asserted.     

APPLICATION OF A GROUPED RESPONSE UNIT HYDROLOGICAL MODEL TO A NORTHERN WETLAND REGION

Applications of hydrological models to northern wetland-dominated regions have been limited in the past to a few case studies on small basins employing ‘lumped’ models. Only recently have there been attempts to apply the grouped response unit (GRU) distributed modelling approach using terrain classifications to these same basins. This study summarizes recent efforts in applying such a model. For the purposes of implementing the GRU approach, terrain types that are hydrologically significant and characteristic to the wetland-dominated regime were successfully discriminated using a principal component analysis and a hybrid unsupervised/supervised classification technique on Landsat–Thematic Mapper imagery. The terrain classifications were then used as input into a distributed hydrological model for calibration and validation using recorded spring runoff events. Preliminary model applications and results are described. Calibration to a historic spring runoff event yielded an r² value of 0.86. Model validation, however, yielded much poorer results. The problems of model applicability to this region and limitations of sparse data networks are highlighted. The need for more field research in this type of hydrological regime, and associated improvements to the model parameter set are also identified.     

Evolution of a Lateglacial mountain icecap in northern Scotland

Finlayson, A., Golledge, N., Bradwell, T. & Fabel, D. 2011: Evolution of a Lateglacial mountain icecap in northern Scotland. Boreas, Vol. 40, pp. 536–554. 10.1111/j.1502‐3885.2010.00202.x. ISSN 0300‐9483. Detailed geomorphological mapping of the Beinn Dearg massif, northern Scotland, was conducted to examine the maximum (Younger Dryas) extent, and earlier interstadial evolution, of an icecap that existed during the Lateglacial period (14.7–11.7 cal. ka BP). Landform evidence indicates a plateau icecap configuration during the Younger Dryas. The interpreted age is supported by new cosmogenic exposure ages and previously reported interstadial sediments beyond the icecap margin. The reconstructed Younger Dryas Beinn Dearg icecap covered 176 km². Equilibrium line altitudes (ELAs) of ～570–580 m were calculated for the icecap as a whole. The empirically reconstructed icecap is compared with recent numerical model simulations. The two methods produce an icecap with a similar configuration; however, differences are apparent in the extent of eastern and western outlets (±1–5 km), and in the spatial variation of ELAs. Results suggest that the numerical simulation overestimates the western and underestimates the eastern icecap extent. We attempt to quantify these differences in terms of icecap mass balance and assess their possible causes. Geomorphological evidence for the pre‐Younger Dryas icecap configuration indicates that the Beinn Dearg massif remained an important source during earlier deglaciation. In contrast, the neighbouring Fannich mountains acted as an ‘unzipping’ zone, and were ice‐free on their northern side by the Allerød (Greenland Interstadial 1c to 1a). Deglaciation continued over the western Beinn Dearg plateau, with the possibility that glaciers remained in some central and eastern catchments prior to (Younger Dryas) icecap (re)growth.     

Glaciation and tectonics in an active intracratonic basin: the Late Palaeozoic Itararé Group, Paraná Basin, Brazil

The Paraná Basin (1 600 000 km²) is the largest intracratonic basin in southern South America and contains a thick (1300 m) Permo-Carboniferous glacial succession (the Itararé Group). This paper describes over 1700 m of drill core recovered during recent exploration for oil and gas. Itararé Group sediments consist of massive and stratified diamictites interbedded with massive and graded sandstones, and massive and laminated mudstones. Facies are interpreted as the product of sediment gravity flows in a glacially influenced marine basin. Three stratigraphic formations can be defined across the basin, each consisting of a lowermost sandstone-rich member overlain by a diamictite-rich member. Examination of Itararé Group rocks both in core and outcrop shows that depositional processes were influenced by active faulting and downslope resedimentation on relatively steep and unstable substrate slopes. Primary glacial deposits such as tillites and associated striated pavements occur along the present eastern outcrop belt which probably coincided with the eastern basin margin during deposition of the Itararé Group. Ice masses fringing the eastern (southern African) and western (Bolivian) basin margins supplied sediment to the basin in the form of fluvio-glacial deltas, fans and floating ice tongues. This sediment was then resedimented downslope as debris flows and turbidites. Both stratigraphic relationships and the regional distribution of facies types identify a clear pattern of basin subsidence and step-wise expansion by outward faulting within Late Proterozoic mobile belts. The position of successive basin margins can be related to specific lineament structures in the underlying basement. Asymmetric expansion of the Paraná Basin occurred along the northern and southern basin margins during deposition of the Itararé Group; this expansion probably reflects shallow crustal adjustments activated by collisional movements along the Andean margin of South America during the Hercynian Orogeny.     

Petrology of glacial sand: implications for the origin and mechanical durability of lithic fragments

The petrology of first cycle (unmodified) and second cycle (reworked) sand at the termini of eleven valley glaciers eroding coarse- to fine-grained bedrock types is determined in order to evaluate the origin and mechanical durability of lithic sands. First cycle sands are coarse- to medium-grained, poorly sorted, fine-skewed, non-modal lithic sands with an average composition of Q₂₁F₆L₇₃. Grain-size distributions do not vary with composition or source rock types, although sands derived from finer grained source rocks contain more lithic fragments than sands from coarser grained sources. By contrast, second cycle sands are medium-grained, poorly sorted, fine- to coarse-skewed arkosic to lithic sands with an average composition of Q₁₉F₄₀L₄₁, and contain fewer lithic fragments than do first cycle sands. We propose that the origin, mechanical durability and survival potential of lithic fragments are related to the types and abundances of their internal planes of weakness, and the particular stress field of the transporting medium. As a result of abrasion, glacial clasts and lithic fragments are subjected to shear stress so that fractures propagate along intracrystal and intercrystal planes of weakness resulting in a continuous grain-size spectrum of lithic fragments and monomineralic grains irrespective of the type of source rock. Upon subsequent aqueous transport in the proglacial environment lithic fragments are subjected to point-loading during saltation in addition to shear stress. Point-loading produces extensional fractures which preferentially propagate along intercrystal planes of weakness, so the lithic fragments break into smaller monomineralic grains and/or lithic fragments. Lithic fragments of very coarse sand-size are abundant in first cycle sands, thus refuting, at least for glacial sands, the widely held view that grains of this size are deficient in nature. The presence of fewer grains of this size in second cycle sands indicates that very coarse sand-size lithic fragments can survive recycling, but in greatly reduced proportions due to breakage.     

Glaciomarine facies within subglacial tunnel valleys: the sedimentary record of glacioisostatic downwarping in the Irish Sea Basin

Coastal exposures of Late Pleistocene sediments deposited after 19 000 yr BP near Dublin, Ireland, provide a window into the infill of a subglacially-cut tunnel valley. Exposures close to the steeply dipping bedrock wall of the valley show boulder gravels within multi-storey U-shaped channels cut and filled by subglacial meltwaters driven by a high hydrostatic head. Gravels are truncated by poorly sorted ice-proximal glaciomarine sediments that record the pumping of large volumes of subglacial debris along the tunnel valley to a tidewater ice sheet margin. The sedimentary succession is dominated by sediment gravity flow facies comprising interbedded diamict and massive, poorly sorted gravel facies interpreted as subaqueous debris flow deposits. Gravel beds show local inverse and normal coarse-tail graded facies recording the restricted development of turbulent flow. Sediment gravity flow deposits fill broad (<2 km) shallow (10 m) and overlapping channels. Penetrative deformation structures (e.g. dykes) are common at the base of channels. The same subglacially-eroded topography and glaciomarine infill stratigraphy can be identified on high resolution seismic profiles across nearly 600 km² of the western Irish Sea. Tunnel valleys are argued to have been exposed to glaciomarine processes by the rapid retreat of a calving tidewater ice sheet margin in response to marine flooding caused by glacio-isostatic downwarping below the last British Ice Sheet. The facies associations described in this paper comprise an event stratigraphy that may be found on other glaciated continental shelves.